With these words, Rolling Stone Country, along with other media personalities and outlets, and certain music performers themselves, have specifically lumped a certain group of other country music performers directly in with Nazis, white supremacists, racists, and murderers simply because they have yet to speak out against or otherwise address the unfortunate, embarrassing, and repugnant events recently in Charlottesville.

The definition of “complicity” states: “The state of being involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing.”

So to understand the implication that Rolling Stone Country and others are making at its very core, they are saying that artists such as Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Dierks Bentley, Cody Jinks, and Jamey Johnson (who specifically served in the United States Marine Corps for 8 years), are not just sympathizers, but are “involved” (as stated by the definition of “complicity”) in being Nazis, racists, and murderers, for no other reason than they have chosen to not address an extremely contentious, controversial, and in many cases, irrational situation refereed by unstable politically-charged ideologues, and exacerbated and amplified by a polarized and attention crazed media.

This irresponsible litmus test that is being placed on the heads of entertainers—country or otherwise, who never signed up to be part of the political process or discourse, and in many cases have sworn off addressing political matters regardless of the alignment of the issue—is nothing short of diseased, and is parallel with the same insistence on universal compliance with ideology found in ISIS, Nazis, and other extremist groups. That is not to say these ideologues are “complicit” with ISIS and Nazis, because of course this would be a ridiculous and irresponsible thing to say.

This is also not to couch the recent occurrences in Charlottesville strictly as political. The killing of innocents, and the hatred for individuals based on skin color or ethnicity is not a political subject, it is a universal embarrassment of society, and there should be nothing contentious or controversial about those stances. However the political quotient that has been interjected into the situation, and also helped lead to the disharmony and violence, cannot be ignored, or overstated.

The sickening events in Charlottesville did inspire numerous country music artists to speak out about the racism that appears to be bubbling up in the population due to current events. Tim McGraw, Kip Moore, Kacey Musgraves, Wheeler Walker Jr., and others have chosen to use their platform as celebrities to speak to their fan bases about their personal convictions, utilizing their access to the masses to assert what they believe to be important leadership. And for that, especially in the face of country music’s dubious history of holding artist’s accountable if they do not adhere to certain narrow, often conservative values, deserves respect if for no other reason than the courage it takes to hold to and express these convictions, even while running the risk of losing support from certain segments of fans.

These are important times, and it is important that individuals do take advantage of positions of leadership to attempt to diffuse hatred, bigotry, and racism in all of its forms. And let’s face it, you run a greater likelihood of interfacing with that racism in country music than you are in pop, EDM, or Adult Contemporary for example. Performing artists have the right to assert their political beliefs similar to any citizen, and shouldn’t be expected to “shut up” just because they are entertainers.

But saying performers must publicly address certain issues, or make certain stances, or it directly puts them in league with Nazis and racists or any seedy element, is a dangerous behavior born from hard line ideological fervor that runs the risk of character assassinating people and besmirching otherwise good names based strictly on assumed notions on someone’s personal beliefs.

What should be obligatory is the understanding that the vast majority of people are opposed to Nazism and the killing of innocents unless they claim otherwise, or have a dedicated history of behavior that would make one suspicious of Nazi-istic or racist leanings. There is nothing in the personal history of Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, or the scores of other country music artists who are being personally called out by name by the media and other artists that would lend to the idea that they have inklings towards racism, and especially Nazi sympathies. Just putting the terms “Nazi” and “Miranda Lambert” together seems ridiculous, and unconscionable when brought to the conclusion of what it really means when you assert that these artists are “complicit” with the behavior of the bad elements responsible for the atrocities in Charlottesville and other places.

There are many reasons artists may choose to stay silent. One might be a fear of retribution from country music’s conservative crowd. This is a fair concern in the wake of what happened to The Dixie Chicks. But so far a similar instance of an artist or group getting blackballed for political beliefs in the last decade has yet to materialize, even as high-profile songs such as “Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves, and “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town have opened up that possibility. If an artist did have their career ended because of their political beliefs, this would be an unfortunate and embarrassing development in country music. But even The Dixie Chicks just concluded a very successful reunion tour. The fear of artists finding themselves rebuked by the industry for political beliefs beyond the already-insular environment of corporate radio seems unlikely, even if certain stances still do alienate certain smaller segments of fans.

What is much more likely is the communication artists make with their fan bases about certain issues becoming a conduit for the racists and white supremacists themselves. Though statistically, the size of these pro-Nazi and white supremacist groups is a very small segment of the greater population (despite the characterization by the media), releasing statements on such matters often acts as a magnet for such seedy elements, putting these artist’s statements in the precarious and unfortunate scenario of becoming forums and bullhorns for the racists and Nazis to spread their message, as opposed to putting a stop to such rhetoric. This is the more likely reason certain artists have chosen to not speak out—seeing the results of other artists who took a stand—as opposed to fear of retribution from the industry or general fans, or the absurd notion that they are “complicit” with the Nazis and white supremacists.

Once again, it is unfortunate that the country music community harbors such elements that would invade an artist’s post simply coming out to condemn virtually universally-recognized subversive behavior, and it is something the country music community should continue to work on and address. But in these circumstances, the symbolism of posting a public statement should be overridden by the substance of what the eventual outcome may be. And often these racists aren’t even country music fans, or fans of the specific artists; they are opportunists exploiting the opening when a celebrity broaches certain subjects. Ultimately, all of these issues are being exacerbated by social media, making it a bad forum for celebrities to post missives to their fans about these issues.

Racism will not end just because a country music star decrees it should be so. Nobody stopped using drugs because of Nancy Reagan or PSA’s. It will take more systematic and fundamental work to rehabilitate each individual’s hatred into understanding and acceptance. Often talking down to these elements or attempting to eviscerate their institutions only exacerbates their hatred, swells their numbers, and calls them to action. This is exactly what happened in Charlottesville. This is not to say that racism shouldn’t be met head on, but it should be handled smartly in a manner that is effective at stamping out it’s hateful ideology, not help spread it because celebrities are guilted into addressing it in inappropriate forums.

And for some artists, if not many artists, music is seen as a haven from hatred, political ideologies and discussion, and should be a place when the population can exhale and escape the contentiousness of modern-day society. This should not be misconstrued as being sympathetic or a haven for Nazi or racist elements. Such things should be banished from society wherever they are found. But everyone needs places where their brain can drift away from troubles, sometimes so they can tackle those same troubles with a clear mind and recharged spirit. For many, music is that place.

Moving forward, music could be, and should be, a vital and irreplaceable tool for bridging differences, and fostering understanding across political, cultural, and racial divides. But if we let the same ideological polarization creep into the music space that has dogged the rest of society, we run the risk of music losing its potency to bring people together, and break down barriers in perspective that racism and radical thought hides behind.

Music can teach us that we all love, we all face fears, and we all can overcome whatever inward or outward oppression that may be dogging us to flourish and prosper. If a music artist chooses to broach political subjects or to speak out against injustices in their music, them more power to them. But don’t hold silence accountable as complicity.

179 Comments

Gina
August 22, 2017 @
11:19 am

I agree, FWIW. And I’m a lifelong Democrat and I oppose these hate groups completely. But I also feel like shaming people is making things worse. There are plenty of celebrities who are calling out these groups. And social media just turns everything into fight club. I’m not saying much on my socials either, and I’m not famous. There are other ways to fight hate than making a statement on Twitter.

I agree also. And I’m a life-long conservative from Oklahoma. What bothers me the most about the current cultural situation is that we can’t disagree anymore. If you think there were two sides at fault in Charlottesville, you are automatically a White Supremacist, Nazi racist. I dislike protesters. White Supremacist, BLM, Antifa, all of them. I think they have a right to protest, but I disagree with the approach. But what enrages me is the fact that if you have an opinion that differs from the current “accepted” opinion, then you are automatically hateful, racist, and you are a horrible person. I disagree with many of my friends about political and religious beliefs but guess what? We’re still friends. That’s how it should work. I cannot fathom how we have got to a place where disagreement equals hatred.

If you think Charlottesville was an all sides situation, you might need to take a second and think. People carrying around Nazi flags, and chanting about Jews and minorities, are not the same as the people who came out to protest them. They are not equals.

Also the vast majority of positive change in this country — including the country itself — has come about as a result of protests.

They actually are equals. Not in the level of intelligence in their argument but in America, you have a right to say what ever you want, no matter how much of an idiot it makes you. Still, if you read my comment my point is not about which side you take, but the fact that we don’t all have to agree on everything. Im not saying the white supremecist assholes are right in their beliefs. But when you have one side saying dumbass shit about race and white power, and the other side violently protesting against them, yes they are both equals, under the constitution. This is exactly what in talking about. Just because I think even morons are covered by the right to assemble, I need to take a second and think? My entire point is it doesn’t matter what I think. They have the right to say stupid shit, no matter how insane and horrible it is. I think they are wrong. I also think the counter protesters are accomplishing nothing more than fueling their drive, validating them. That doesn’t make me racist, nazi, hateful or stupid.

I must have missed the part where it was the violent Antifa that killed the woman. Oh wait, that’s not what happened?

Everyone has the right to assemble (just ignore the part where when AA assemble you have police in riot gear) but sides do exist. Look, violence is bad…but when you have a Nazi/white supremacists march & a Nazi /white supremacists drives a car into the crowd in an act of terrorism, it’s not “all sides”. The people who celebrated all sides were the white supremacists, for a reason.

We can sit down and have a nice debate on taxes, or the appropriate role for the Federal Gov’t in the education system, and reasonable people can disagree. But not when it comes to Nazis and racism. Somethings don’t have two sides.

Antifa is a violent commie group, who uses fascism to fight against perceived fascism. Just because they didn’t kill anyone this time, doesn’t mean they haven’t tried, and won’t keep trying.

People like you, who take the side that aligns with your ideology, are part of the problem. You ARE complicit.

I would like to see the Alt-“Right”, and the violent left disappear. Actual Conservatives are shunning the Alt-“Right”. Why doesn’t the left shun its own violence? Because you are okay with violence, as long as it’s for an approved reason.

Let’s please try to keep these comments somewhat on the topic of country artists being called out for not speaking up. We’re not going to solve the deeply-rooted political problems here or anywhere else, and it will just result in nauseating back and forths.

People from both sides were arrested for violence. That’s what makes it a both sides thing.

Normally Nazis march and no one pays attention to them. This time antifa and others decided to countermarch and the government decided it would be funny to run the two groups into each other. That’s what caused the problem.

Otherwise no one would’ve noticed this like they don’t notice all the other times that crackpots get out and march.

While we shouldn’t universalize our own experience, I usually seek out entertainment and those who provide it, to escape the horrors that surround us all..Having a famous name doesn’t mean the person who has it, is not dumber than dirt…or better informed than say, my dog.

Fuck Rolling Stone. I haven’t read that hipster pos for years. I mean who uses phrases like “vitriol” or “pop sensibility” anyway? Loooosers, that’s who. They are trying to bully people into saying things to agree with them. Fuck bullying and fuck Rolling Stone.

I’ve had a subscription to Rolling Stone for over a decade. In the past decade, I’ve been employed the entire time, a B.S. degree and a M.S. degree from a top 20 National public university and been to plenty of amazing concerts and supported many artists between Athens, GA and Asheville, NC. How about quit stereotyping. This is the stupidness that is tearing apart our country.

It doesn’t matter….period…you can’t allow one group to march or protest under freedom of speech then get pissed when the opposition does the same…especially when ppl are bitching about equality in the same breath…that is the epitomization of hypocrisy…
Fact is…in C’ville one group went the legal route to protest the statues coming down…and a bunch of other assholes showed up and it went from there. They are all to blame if they showed up with ill intent..like it or not…everyone has the right to their own opinions and don’t deserve having their life taken for it…that it the beauty of America..
Even if it seems they are trying to silence a different opinion…
As far as rolling stone..morons..they obviously haven’t listened to Miranda’s All Kinds Of Kinds…
I suggest they you tube her and her bands version of Woke Up This Morning…
with freedom on my mind…

Fuck Rolling Stone. Always been a leftist source of printed garbage not worthy of being lumped in with used toilet paper. This is how they work. Bully you into agreeing with what they try to spew. Voice your own opinion?: Shut up and stick to music! Don’t say anything?: Nazi sympathizer!

Of course Rolling Stone’s writers took a break from photo-shopping Hitler mustaches onto pictures of Trump to freak out and act like this is a litmus test for everyone. And also of course this is more than a little motivated by “Only rednecks listen to country music, so they’re probably all racist too, right?”

It’s a sad state of affairs when artists who are trying to help folks escape or at least vacation from some of our darker realities are pushed into becoming spokespeople against whatever the world’s pissed off about today. The idea that celebrities in general must have an immediate, relevant, thought-out, opinion on every controversy or tragedy in sync with the loudest social voices is nuts.

I don’t have any reason to doubt that the artists I listen to aren’t fans of white nationalists and don’t expect them to have to prove it to me by making a statement. And beyond that, the fact that they can condemn hate and racism and evil and still be chastised for not doing it strongly enough or using the right terms/tone makes it more of a minefield.

To flip it… am I the only one who feels that certain artists actually use trending social media issues to sell their brand and that it’s a bit despicable?

I don’t necessarily agree with all of it, especially the idea that we should all automatically assume that the majority of Americans agree that racism/Nazis are bad. To the majority of the world, the US is a farce right now, a collapsing empire with a hate spewing, racist/ sexist/ classist clown in the White House Tweeting the most absurd things daily. To most of us, Trump makes that North Korean goof look like a sane intellectual in comparison. The supposedly democratic voting in of Trump suggests that we should in fact assume that the majority of Americans share the views of the person that they chose to represent them. That’s just simple statistical reality.

This means that unless you explicitly take the opportunity to denounce White Supremacy in the US, we all assume that you condone it. Of course, that in no way means that anyone “has to” speak out, but it’s unreasonable to expect that others don’t label you based on your silence.

Apathy does not in any way equate human rights. That’s not bullying, that’s simple logic.

The majority of Americans voted for an openly racist man for president.
It’s not a stretch to assume that they aren’t excessively opposed to racism if they’d be comfortable making that choice. You also have a bad tendency to murder African Americans in the streets, which doesn’t really help convince anyone otherwise.

Only a very slight majority of Americans even voted. About 53%. It’s impossible to say the majority of Americans voted for any one candidate.
You can’t even say the the majority of /voters/ voted for Trump since Hillary won the popular vote.
Lastly, I’m sure people voted for Trump for a lot of reasons, and a lot that did never thought that he would have reacted the way he did to Charlottesville.

With all of Clinton’s flaws, Russian meddling and the Comey Letter, Trump still got 2.9 million less votes than Clinton and won the electoral vote by virtue of three very close races in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. How do you suppose No Drama Obama would have done if he could have run for a third term?

Jack, weak? You’re the one splitting hairs about “unseating.”. I’ll make it easy for you…Trump is the President and Obama, Clinton, BLM, Antifa, KKK, Mitch McConnell, etc are a bunch of unAmerican pussies.

Kevin Wortman, I did not mean Obama. What you are spewing is part of the problem. Neither Trump nor Obama are racist. The problem is people that disagree with the current president, whoever he may be at the time, spewing garbage and claiming how the country is going to collapse. It’s never as bad as alarmists make it sound. Quit your partisan bullshit and grow up.

A bunch of people voted for a man Dems called racist and you believed them. Go back two years and read stories from NYT and other outlets and you’ll see stories with no mention of racism or supremacy, it’s actually quite the opposite, as the stories showed Trump in a very favorable light. That was before he was a threat to Her Highness.

Think of it this way. He had a reality show for what, seven years? And no one noticed his alleged racism? Xenophobia? White supremacy?

Take some time to think of how you’ve been duped by the Dems and the media.

Maybe if the cameras followed him around 24/7 for those seven years and the footage was available to the public, you’d have a better point.

I have thought of him as kind of a personal creep for a long time, but it wasn’t until he used his celebrity to become Birther #1 in 2011 that he showed himself to be a world class race baiter.

Do I think he’s a committed white supremacist in his heart? I doubt it. I think he’s too self absorbed and intellectually lazy to be committed to any cause other than his own enrichment and celebrity. But for a politician, I see no practical difference between a committed white supremacist and a cynical race baiter.

The 2 party right wing American “democratic” system is undeniably a joke. I understand that. Clinton was a ridiculous choice to run. Her track record was as horrible as the last few decades worth of presidents for sure. But seriously, how can anyone with half a brain claim that she would’ve been worse than Trump? We all know that Obama was murdering children with drones, he was no better than that idiot W Jr., but I just cannot comprehend how anyone could justify voting for a clearly mentally ill megalomaniac.

Thinking Clinton is awful I fully understand. She’s the embodiment of the Democatic party’s biggest flaws, but Calling Donald Trump a self-made man is just about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Witch or not, Clinton has far more claim on the “self-made” title than Donny Silver-Spoons.

So his dad gave or loaned, whichever you prefer to believe, the man created a brand. He’s built buildings, golf courses and other things. What have the Clintons done, scammed people with fake non profits , sold favors to high dollar donors, stole money from earthquake victims, sold uranium to the Russians, sold state secrets to the Chinese. And of course we can’t forget about Ol Bill’s perversions and rapes of women. Hmmmmm, that man who took the million looking better and better.

Except that the majority of Americans DIDN’T vote for him. Not even the majority of people who voted, voted for him. Only 60% of eligible voters voted at all. And the total votes cast for Trump numbered about 63 million. Which is about 20% of the US population. And of those, despite what people think, not every single one is a racist. Thus, the vast majority of people in the US, according to your own analysis, do not condone it. Assuming otherwise is ridiculous. And, it is exactly the sort of thing that caused people to vote for Trump.

It’s true that not every Trump voter is a stone racist. However, about 60% of his supporters believed the racist birther lie that he pushed since 2011. So that leaves about 40% of them that might not have been racist.

Your response is the typical song of the liberal since last November. This is not coming from a side of conservative, but from common sense. This past election menu gave the American people the choice of either a shit sandwich or a shit sandwich with cheese and if choosing the lesser of two evils was not putting another Clinton in office, so be it. ‘That’s just simple statistical reality.’..where did this fact come from? Since the election, the vocal left have screamed ‘your’re either with us or against us’, and that seems to be where you chose to draw the line. I recommend pulling your head out of whatever your echo chamber of choice has been and go for a walk. It might help..

Cute.
Where I come from & from how I see your disastrous 2 party system, the US only has 2 right wing parties. “Liberal” is just a silly slur that insecure men use to label those who care about human rights. I don’t think most US Democrats are any better than Republicans, 2 sides of the same coin that just argues in circles. For the most part, the US rolls along with meaningless presidents who keep the status quo, since they generally have little power to do large damage thanks to checks & balances, but W. Jr. & Trump should be an embarrassment to you all.

As for the “statistical reality” fact… Democracy is a system where voters vote on a candidate & the majority rules, so this means that if the majority chose a racist president, it stands to reason that the majority support his view. He never once hid his views before the election, we all knew that the KKK were loud supporters. It’s ridiculous to pretend that you didn’t know what kind of monster you were supporting.

The United States isn’t a Democracy it’s a Representative Republic, so before you start enlightening us with your brilliance you should at least know what it is you are talking about. I’m sure where you come from is a wonderful place and is much better than the United States but maybe it should spend a little bit more of it’s GDP on education.

You are correct Trainwreck but my issue is with ” Democracy is a system where voters vote on a candidate & the majority rules”. This isn’t how it works here majority doesn’t rule if it did Hillary would be the president.

You again have nothing more than an opinion to back your ‘facts’..I belong to a group that has both white black members that agreed that Clinton wasn’t an option..do they fall into your broad stroke of racism.? I again think you need to step away from the internet and try to interact with a human every now and then.

Agee with everything you wrote in the article, Trig, and what posters commented. Personally, I don’t care what “insert entertainer name here” says, or feels, about world topics. Never have I read a position brought forth by an entertainer, and thought, yeah, you’re right, you’ve changed my mind.

I am not sure what a person who says they are a Nazi or white supremacist listens to but it is hard to see it being Luke Bryan or Miranda Lambert. I personally have almost tuned out entirely from politics so I would be happy if they didnt say anything so I dont have to tune them out too

I’ve always had a firm belief that artists/entertainers should use their microphone for their music, NOT their politics. The folks mentioned in this article did not make their millions by becoming politicians; they did so by their talents (or lack thereof). I also believe that just because you choose not to broadcast your personal beliefs/political opinions onto social media platforms that you are ‘complicit’ with the bad guys…many people choose to stay silent not because of the potential backlash, but because they donate to groups/volunteer, or they choose to have their political discussions in person, not with a keyboard. While social media has brought out the worst in some folks, there is still plenty of good in the world that doesn’t involve ‘likes’ or ‘retweets’ to be noticed.

“Metallica doesn’t give a s***, all right? We don’t give a s*** about the differences, okay? We care about the similarities. So the fact that you’re here — we don’t care who you voted for, what you do or don’t eat, we don’t care what color your skin is, what you do for a job. We don’t care what you’ve done in the past. What we do care about is the fact that we’re all together here, celebrating life with music. So for me, you are Metallica family. All are welcome. Are you with us?”

I think he’s said that at most stops on this tour. It’s not silence, but basically saying Metallica doesn’t care, we’re all here, lets jam. Truly uniting.

This is the line from the article that gets me- “And yet, if you scrolled through the social media accounts of some of the biggest names in country music, you’d have no idea that it wasn’t just another week in Nashville.” Think I’m gonna troll Luke Bryan’s twitter feed and see if I can pick up a check from Rolling Stone too.

Ugh- the idea that celebrities have to address these things or else is so misguided and horrible. Nobody wants to address hot-button issues on the snakepit that is social media. Blaming artists for not doing that is just stupid, and alienating to people like me – and I play guitar in an out gay country band for chrissakes.

Nazis are scum. Almost all of us believe this. Saying it is like saying you don’t like cancer. My response to both would be, “I hope not.” To say that you don’t like Nazis is a pretty low bar. I don’t encounter these people in my everyday life. The media has totally fed into what the hate groups want and that is to be legitimized. I would never think that any of these artist condone bad shit. Hell, I would guess that 99% of the United States does not condone it. This is a small population of people who are getting a lot of attention, thanks to…the media….

Very well put. This is a non-controversy. Virtually everyone, including President Trump, denounced the racist hate groups. But unless you denounce Trump, the GOP, all of their supporters, and everyone who doesn’t support removing Confederate monuments as Klansmen/Nazis/fascists,. the media and the left aren’t satisfied.

This is the same kind of bullshit you hear if you turn on any of the major news channels on a daily basis. For example, CNN is so irrational they actually employ a commentator who the other day used her platform to express her belief that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington statues need to come down. I don’t really align myself with either party, though I’d say I lean slightly Republican. So, coming from a mostly neutral observer, if you hold the opinion that our founding fathers should be erased and forgotten you need a major history lesson and an appreciation for where you live. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than most other places.

I don’t watch cable news anymore, but it seems to me that CNN is news as entertainment. Get some right wingers and left wingers to yell at each other. For example, they’ve employed a few Trump toadies as well (Lord, Lewandowski, et. al.)

From what I’ve read, I think the mainstream liberal opinion is that there’s a huge difference between monuments honoring founding fathers who were also slave owners and monuments that honor The Confederacy.

Many modern country artists promote intolerance and inequality, but there was a time when the world had classy country artists who were truly unique and promoted diversity. Written by legendary country songwriter/singer/recording artist Don Gibson and covered by the legendary Ray Charles, the hit song ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ is an example of an iconic composition from the world of country music which is fully capable of crossing genres, transcending racial boundaries and being widely appreciated by everyone regardless of race or ethnicity. Ray Charles’ version of this classic song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962, for five weeks. This version went to number one on the U.S. R&B and Adult Contemporary charts. Billboard ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1962. Charles’ version also reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1962. Prior to Ray Charles recording this song, Don Gibson was already a big fan of Ray Charles and had also proposed recording his songs for the country market. Don Gibson was a man of true class and you didn’t see him writing rowdy redneck songs about human rear-ends or wearing baseballs caps and camo while driving down a dirt road. When did country artists start resembling incestual villain characters from the Burt Reynolds film “Deliverance?”

The Rolling Stone should control everyone’s mouth. That’s the world I want to live in.

Seems the Rolling Stone is developing an addition to coming out on the losing end of libel law suits. Something tells me they’re about to face another one. Nashville lawyers won’t be nearly as nice as the UVA lawyers were.

The luxury of treating this as media sensationalism or only a small group or lets ignore them is reserved solely for white Christians. My friends in Charlottesville who wanted to go to shul on Saturday don’t have this right. The minority students I teach, who have to worry about a water gun being seen as a gun if they’re walking home at night, or wearing a hoodie don’t have this luxury.

Every entertainer doesn’t have to speak out on every issue. Music can be used as a powerful tool to unite. But history has shown that evil flourishes when ordinary people stay silent. And nazism should be something that unifies. Iit only becomes decisive when the leader of the country claims “all sides” (& note many republicans disagreed with him, this isn’t political), and 36% of the country – not a small number – still support him.

Ignore it if you wish, but understand just because you ignore something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or that it goes away. While everyone was focused on Charlottesville the holicaust memorial in Boston was vandalized. The number maybe “small” but it isn’t isolated & it isn’t going away.

aww, gotta love a good straw man (checks post for antifa, nope still didn’t say I support them)

(as a longer answer, I don’t support anyone beating anyone up or causing property damage, but antifa stands for anti-fascists. I don’t support their tactics, and I don’t support them. But that’s not the same thing as your core message being white supremacy)

I would love nothing more than to not have to talk about race anymore in this country. But saying all people are Americans regardless of race, so we don’t have to have race talk ignores the reality. All of my friends have advanced degrees, we are generally middle to upper middle class, and dress relatively conservative: my only friends who get followed around stores are minorities (and I could go on with 1000x examples). Wishing doesn’t make something reality.

shrug not really, my job requires an advanced degree so all my co-workers have one. By definition everyone I went to grad school with has one. The only oddity would be my college friends all having them, but that was more random. It’s also true that advanced degrees are being increasingly required as college degrees become devalued.

Also and for the record wanting to take down confederate monuments is not the same thing as saying take down monuments to George Washington. One group of people committed treason – in order to keep slavery – against the country that the other person helped found.

Additionally, if you know anything about the history of confederate monuments you would know that most of them were put up as a response to African-Americans trying to gain rights & as a reminder of white supremacy. Which is why you find them in lots of places that had nothing to do with the Civil War. If you don’t want to believe me, read Ben Sasse who is a super conservative republican.

Again, the problem is misidentification. There is a statue in NYC that people were all hot and bothered to be taken down. It turns out the person in question had nothing to do with the Civil War. And who decides what gets taken down? According to a Washington Post poll (whose readers definitely skew more liberal or at least libertarian), 64% thought these statues should be left where they are, 29% thought they should be taken down. Again, I am a liberal democrat but if tearing down statues as a knee jerk reaction to what’s going doesn’t remind you of Russia, or any other Totalitarian regime, you haven’t read your history. And it will solve nothing.

I can only directly speak to the process in Baltimore, a 6 month debate was had before the city council vote to take down the statues…and I can assure you 64% of the population of Baltimore was not in favor of the statues remaining.

This one seems pretty easy to me…even Robert E Lee didn’t think we should have confederate monuments. The civil war belongs in history books and museums, a group of states that committed treason to preserve slavery should not be celebrated with monuments.

Um, what part of a 6 month debate isn’t the Democratic process? In fact Durham aside, all of these removals were after a long period of debate. That’s why they even had time to organize a march. Of course now that Charlottesville has happened, a lot of places are accelerating taking down these statues….shockingly they don’t want a Nazi march where they live.

Also if it exists in museums and history books it’s not an erasure. Nobody is calling for an erasure.

I’m so confused ok so a) no I don’t agree with the tearing down of the statue in Durham b) it was neither a referendum nor an advisory board. The elected city council had 6 months of debate, including open public hearings, then they (city council & signed by mayor) voted to tear down the statues. That’s how representative democracies work.

seak, I misunderstood what you said about the council vote. that’s fine, if they had due process and acted on a majority vote, then fine. misguided in my view, but removal is obviously not my call.

but Marxism? seak, I have a lot of friends in central and eastern europe. it most certainly is inherently violent, and it most certainly is about supremacy. Marxism *requires* coercive force in order to scale, and the body count of Marxism is orders of magnitude higher than that of Nazism.

since you brought up Baltimore..the same city that is in the top 10 in black on black crime, and climbing..top 10 in crime overall,and climbing and top 10 in unemployment, and climbing. The same city whose leadership told the police to stand down and let the people riot and destroy. Statues and monuments are to blame for all this? I thinks one should look to your ineffective leadership that is blaming rocks instead of fixing the issues at hand..

Then why are many of the same people calling for Washington and Jefferson statues and monuments to be taken down?

It is the damn slippery slope. They said, they just wanted to take down the Confederate statues. A couple of days later, calls for Washington and Jefferson are heard. Give an inch and they take a mile.

I’m a Canadian and I realize I don’t have any right to interject myself into American politics one way or the other, but I do have a point I’d like to share. Last Saturday we Canadians observed the 75th anniversary of the Dieppe fiasco that occurred during WW2. Over 900 Canadian soldiers were cut down in a few short hours and 2000 taken prisoner trying to land on the French coast to establish a defense against German occupiers. 2 members of my mothers family were killed and another taken prisoner. When I see these pieces of human feces parading with swastikas and glorifying the Nazi ideology it makes me sick to my stomach. We all need to protect and celebrate free speech but if everyone doesn’t stand up to these scum we are doing a huge dishonor to the generation who fought to stop this shit. We are all one race people. The Human Race.

Has Rolling Stone ever recanted and/or apologized for the bullshit fabricated article about the “altercation” backstage between Toby Keith and Kris Kristofferson? If so, I’ll keep my big mouth shut. If not, then they have/deserve ZERO credibility and should fuck off to infinity and beyond

This mass media atttiude in many ways promotes hate more than the haters. Idiots like Charlottesville have been doing this for hundreds of years. I think this media push only promotes guys like Trump higher….even if that requires a private voting booth. Sad state of affairs.

So, wait… does this mean that every pop, rock, and hip hop artist who doesn’t speak out against it publicly is also complicit? Or is it just the country artists?

By all means let’s use the mob mentality to force everyone to have the same opinion. What celebrities say has no bearing on my life. I couldn’t care less about their opinions. Charlottesville was horrible, but I don’t need a celebrity to tell me that.

The media is driving the country apart with click bait.

At 36 years of age, I’ve never felt so old. Get off my lawn. I feel like blasting Hank Williams “Mind Your Own Business.”

Kyle Coroneos way to open up this discussion. Well it’s evening time, the kids are in bed and it’s time to write opinions and convictions. There are some thought provoking points being made within this article such as “Music can teach us that we all love, we all face fears, and we all can overcome whatever inward or outward oppression that may be dogging us to flourish and prosper. If a music artist chooses to broach political subjects or to speak out against injustices in their music, them more power to them. But don’t hold silence accountable as complicity.” That last line of course is where I respectfully, lovingly disagree. And I think where many of us fine this line of dispute is due to our life experience and how such acts of racism impact us. If myself or loved one is being subjected to a structure of racism then there is a direct, personal attack on one’s quality of life. And say that act is a daily occurrence where the undertones of racism within the judicial system, social interaction/perspective, employability, commercial outlets etc. are a constant reminder of a larger structure of hate; how does that statement change the interpretation when there is only silence? Take a moment friends. Take a moment to see from the other perspective and please don’t limit it to sides of color but rather the principals of compassion. Look beyond and consider the parent or child that is seeing/hearing what’s going on in Charlottesville. Think of that family member, your loved one, witnessing wide spread abuse at the hands of some troubled individuals working within law enforcement. Think of the convictions of our social workers, our teachers and crises interventionists, our mentors that are daily striving to improve a persons quality of life due to the impact of racism. Point being, if someone you deeply love is being victimized and your neighbor whom you admire and respect is clearly aware of such victimization but yet they remain silent….they choose not to involve themselves….they turn away for whatever reason well sadly that neighbor has clearly made a choice. And to that choice I feel those that have been directly affected by such hate and victimization are left wondering “Why the hell do you not choose to STRAND UP AND SPEAK OUT?” That’s what I’m left wondering friends. Yes sadly I would say the majority of our mainstream artists are very much complacent on this topic due to their personal experience. And to that I would say broaden your experiences for there are children, families, mothers and sisters needing to hear BY THE THOUSANDS that “NO SUCH HATRED IS WRONG!”. Peace to ya brother and continue the dialogue:)

I think one of the biggest problems in perspective here is two issues are getting conflated. You say,

“Point being, if someone you deeply love is being victimized and your neighbor whom you admire and respect is clearly aware of such victimization but yet they remain silent….they choose not to involve themselves….they turn away for whatever reason well sadly that neighbor has clearly made a choice.”

I think you’re making the same leap of judgment against people as when someone says that silence is tantamount to “complicity” with Nazi-istic and racist behavior, and murder.

I have made a CAREER out of rearing back on a daily basis, and reefing folks like Luke Bryan, Sam Hunt, Florida Georgia Line, Kenny Chesney, and others square in the nuts. By exploiting any tiny flaw in their music or careers for maxim possibly gain, I have been able to pay my mortgage, put gas in the car, and food on the table. If I felt there was any chance these people were sympathetic toward nazis and white supremacists, I would be the first person to start hurling grenades in their direction, if for no other reason than my own personal gain. But at no point have I ever thought of these individuals as bad people. In many respects and instances, they are probably better people, better family members, better neighbors, better community members than most of the people attempting to smear their character simply by claiming their silence is tantamount to totalitarian genocide.

When Luke Bryan’s sister and brother-in-law died, they took in their nephew Ti. Recently, Thomas Rheyt and his wife adopted a little girl from a Ugandan orphanage. There are stories of Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan stopping on the side of the road to render aid to individuals. I have never heard any accounts about these artists that would tell me that they would not only help a friend, family member, or neighbor in need, but that they go beyond that, giving millions to local charities, volunteering time in their communities. Granted, all of this stuff works great for the marketing of their music, but that doesn’t mean that the time and effort isn’t sincere.

None of these performers being equated to Nazis, racists, and murders solely for their silence have ever exhibited any behavior to make one think they have tendencies in a racist direction. They don’t live in Charolottsville. And just because they are silent on the matter, doesn’t mean they don’t care, doesn’t mean they haven’t taken action in a private manner to expressed their compassion for the events, or are doing other things behind-the-scenes. It doesn’t mean they aren’t as infuriated as the rest of us, or frustrated they can’t do more. Possibly they believe it is opportunist to use a national tragedy to promote themselves, and that is why they have chosen to stay silent. Some (as has been expressed to me via email in the last few days), may be contractually obligated to not be able to speak out on matters that are deemed controversial by their labels and managers.

This is not about the character of these performers that were called, and I quote, “complicit” with Nazis, murderers, and racists for their silence. This is about a total war strategy by political extremists with unrequited anger and a willingness to assassinate the character of innocents, bystanders, and even allies if they don’t comply with that extremist ideology. THIS is the behavior of Nazis. They want a bowl of blood, collateral damage be damned. They want every sector of American culture to be dragged into a conflict that these innocents did not start, and they are not willing accomplices in. They profess it is okay for innocent people, who for all they know, are extremely angry about the events in Charlottesville themselves, to be dragged into the conflict, have their careers plundered, personal live torn apart, simply because they are unwilling to adhere to a specific set of standards by a sect of the American public who believes their moral and intellectual superiority makes their irresponsible behavior righteous.

Every man is innocent until proven guilty. Everybody has a right to remain silent. Assumptions on the character or perspectives of people solely based on silence is irresponsible, and unjust. And may I pointed out the millions of Buddhist monks, Christian monks, pilgrims, and people of devout philosophical and religious leanings who have devoted their entire lives to silence over the centuries believing it is the strongest opposition possible to human conflict and suffering.

Saying silence is violence (as Jason at Muddy Roots said yesterday while also admitting he refuses to read my opinion) is the basis of how violence can be inflicted on others for their silence. It is a dangerous, extremist path that has more to do with anger than anything, and with that anger being pointed at the wrong people.

How about we focus more on the people who we know are responsible for what happened in Charlottesville, and the folks that have clearly identified themselves as racists? As neighbors are not supposed to sit idly by as they see injustices occurring, I too cannot sit idly by as innocent people are branded Nazis and racists. Country music is my community. I think the music of Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt sucks. But they are my neighbors, my brothers, and my friends when you strip the music back and simply look at it from a human level. And I refuse to watch them be character assassinated for things they have NOT said, and NOT done.

Kyle Coroneos wonderfully articulated and sincerely thought provoking. It is refreshing and hopeful in hearing such stories regarding the selflessness and compassionate acts of the artists mentioned. I think there is a mighty element of context within this discussion yes? Meaning when and where do we remain silent or become politically and socially active and in what platform? While reading through the article mentioned on ‘Why Country Artists Are Reluctant to Speak Up About Charlottesville’ and then digging a bit deeper in an adjoining article by #JosephHoodak ‘Why Its Time For Country Stars to Speak Up About Trump’ Im not seeing the allegations or assumptions that Thomas Rheyt or Luke Bryan are practicing Nazis nor White Nationalists; rather I’m reading quotes such as “If you’re ambivalent about any of this, by all means, proceed with business as usual. But if you’re concerned about a crew member’s ability to obtain health coverage, or about the rights of the many LGBTQ members of our industry, or about discrimination against people of color, or most of all, about the future of your own kids, it’s time to speak up, Nashville. Either in song, onstage or online.” Point being brother I’m reading journalists writing their concerns about a lacking presence of an Industries defiance and objection to both the events in Charlottesville and/or the present administration’s rhetoric and policies. I’m not entirely in agreement that either article is trying to stigmatize mainstream country artists which don’t speak out as racists, but rather they’re encouraging more of the Nashville industry to be clear that such hate rhetoric is wrong. Case in point both articles compliment and point out artists such as #KaceyMusgraves, #MargoPrice, #Cam etc. for speaking out and standing up. Is it necessarily wrong to challenge an industry to do more in representing their dissent against current hate crimes? Brother it’s not that I feel such artists are inherently evil due to their lack of participation in social justice, no quite the contrary. Rather as a music lover and fan of country music I would feel empowerment and inspiration in seeing the Industry as a whole standing firm and holding that line of Peace & Justice in the shadows of hate and ignorance. Most importantly though compadre and friends tuning in; it’s our responsibility to do more, help more, serve more and yes love more. In my balding, rickety, humble opinion brother that is what we are encouraging. Peace to ya:)

“But at no point have I ever thought of these individuals as bad people. In many respects and instances, they are probably better people, better family members, better neighbors, better community members than most of the people attempting to smear their character simply by claiming their silence is tantamount to totalitarian genocide.”

Thank you, Trigger, and amen. I’m reminded of a favorite poem —

Sermons We See

Edgar Guest

I’d rather see a sermon
than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me
than merely tell the way.

The eye’s a better pupil
and more willing than the ear,
Fine counsel is confusing,
but example’s always clear;

And the best of all the preachers
are the men who live their creeds,
For to see good put in action
is what everybody needs.

I soon can learn to do it
if you’ll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action,
but your tongue too fast may run.

And the lecture you deliver
may be very wise and true,
But I’d rather get my lessons
by observing what you do;

For I might misunderstand you
and the high advice you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding
how you act and how you live.

When I see a deed of kindness,
I am eager to be kind.
When a weaker brother stumbles
and a strong man stays behind

Just to see if he can help him,
then the wish grows strong in me
To become as big and thoughtful
as I know that friend to be.

And all travelers can witness
that the best of guides today
Is not the one who tells them,
but the one who shows the way.

One good man teaches many,
men believe what they behold;
One deed of kindness noticed
is worth forty that are told.

Who stands with men of honor
learns to hold his honor dear,
For right living speaks a language
which to every one is clear.

Though an able speaker charms me
with his eloquence, I say,
I’d rather see a sermon
than to hear one, any day.

Celebrity singers telling concert goers, listeners and parking attendants how to think from a perspective of being out of long ticket lines, along with other trials and tribulations, just brings those to see the show back to the ridiculousness of reality. No matter what the songs might be complaining or wondering about, they are still so lucky to be off the sidewalks. That would be the perspective of the roll eyes and moans when told how to vote on terrible issues in society. We just stood in line and our bag searched to get in.

Even if the songs sung are about being duped, it’s great that you made it! Feeling good until the voting opinions come out. I’m here to have fun, escape it all, lets drink. It’s relieving to know the piano lessons actually paid off for someone and to know that the person in the spot light doesn’t have to deal with the lines and a lot of the other stuff. (Unless they want to share the lurid details about the obnoxious expectations, demands and hard work fighting for attention, that’s in their songs. Rappers and hip hop talkers tell us how cool they are and joys of success.)

On Charlottesville, good God! Did you see the footage of the mushed brained idiots pushing up against each other? Who would go near that crap? Phathom the brain dead. That was an orgy. Their minds won’t be found in the brain or heart. That was called getting out in public and dancing. The whole thing was probably a distraction fro more nuclear weapons being set up in some remote location across seas. Trump is golfing too much and the secret service is going bust, and all the other headlines? OH-KAY…? Big news, the media gets all the important information now. Reporters want national attention too. They want in the spotlight too. We hate hate and we’re enraged… Eat it up. Since life is so short the disgust has to be transformed to patience and then you’re dead. Don’t show up at one of those rallies. There’s a lot going on out there. Musicians/artists imparting their opinions on the media extravaganza is just doing their bidding. Even the haters will say they hate hate.

Really sorry there were deaths, now it’s legit. Casualties of war? Who would do something so mean and cruel?

Oh for fuck sakes shut the fuck up about nazis. This isn’t an epidemic. You have a higher probability of being killed by your furniture than some white supremacist. It was just an isolated incident where group of nazi saluting retards with battle armor met another group of retards in black with bandana masks waving communist flags and they went at it. Somewhere in the middle you had camo dudes with rifles standing around looking stoic. I’m not suprised someone finally died. When you have people bringing pipes and spiked 2×4’s wacking people and cars there’s going to be a high probability of a fatality. The media loves a racist story. They will blow it way out of proportion and get everyone all fired up. It’s ridiculous. They do this all the time and here we go falling for it every time. These two extremist groups are responsible for escalating the situation. Yes, a counter protestor died but in a event like that anyone could have died. It was jut a ticking time bomb. Just because you are on some “anti-fascist” side doesn’t automatically mean you’re the good guys.

These jagoffs just aren’t happy unless they are ruining something somewhere. How does singing about love and heartbreak make you a Nazi or a racist? Because you didn’t condone it you say. So I guess we’re all Nazis and racists then. Not just that of us on this blog but our families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, anyone that said nothing is a Nazi and racist. Right? Country music may have roots in Dixie but when did those roots ever offend anyone? It’s tradition and an American one. Any idiot can understand it except for the ones that have their heads up their asses. If only this energy was put to use trying to solve some real problem in the world like poverty or cancer the world would be a much much better place.

As a nonwhite American living in an overwhelmingly white rural community on the outskirts of a left leaning metropolitan area, this article struck a chord with me. I am a strong believer in individual freedom, limited government, and equality of opportunity under the law. And some things that are quite dear to me – including the Constitution, American democracy, and yes, country music – were created mostly by white people. The race of the individuals who created these things is not important to me. Yet I’ve been accused of being a “white flighter” on many occasions by acquaintances who live in an urban progressive culture.

I think country artists are unfortunately suffering from “guilt by association”, largely coming from urban elites who want to think they are better people, who reflexively connect a genre with lots of white faces with the ideology of white nationalists. They think, because most country artists are white and most of country’s audience is white, that country music is white identity which equals white nationalism which equates to white supremacy. As wrongheaded as this is, it is entirely consistent with the ideology of the progressive Left, in which a person’s race largely defines his or her identity. In their world, a white person is expected to think and act in a certain way because he is white; a member of a racial minority is likewise expected to conform to cultural norms for his or her race. In the minds of progressives, an individual’s identity is subordinate to a group’s identity; and liberty is subordinate to solidarity.

Country artists have no obligation to speak out on political issues. They are not complicit in any wrongdoing based on their race, or based on the genre of music they perform, or based on the ethnicity of the majority of people who are fans of their genre.

People can believe anything they want. They can be vocal or silent about their feelings. In this day and age, some folks even want to force you to take a side. Those people are the worst people. I find it absolutely hilarious that it is the college education citizens of this great country who seem to be so dead set on forcing people to think like them. I noticed it while I was in college in my thirties. It starts with professors brainwashing students into believing thier points of veiw. Then the educated carry this on into the workforce. Before you know it certain “facts” are set in stone. Please excuse .email for thinking for myself, but everyone on both sides of everything is an idiot because there are more than two sides to everything. Things are not always so “black and white” (no pun intended.) There is a lot of grey area in life. And none if you have the answers to any of the issues we face in society. So shut the fuck up, set the fuck down, and mind your own fucking buisness you know it all assholes.

I find it ridiculous to include Miranda in this group. She sings All Kinds of Kinds at every concert (even though it isn’t a “hit” song. She says a little speech about how it takes people from different backgrounds to make up this world & believe in yourself no matter what. She has done this by the way for YEARS. For the Birds on her new album discusses these issues. Her music should speak for itself.Just go look at any of her Glam jam videos you could she she supports people of all colors. She quoted Maya Angelou in a post last November that talked about discrimination. Sad that people don’t do their homework.

Some people don’t have the luxury of being silent when their lives are always living in fear of being targeted and profiled. Literally every move some people make is scrutinized and they have no other choice but to think about how their own behaviors could be perceived or endanger theirs or other people’s lives. To not live by this fear constantly is a privilege.

The idea that art and politics are somehow separable is so weird to me. Just because an artist isn’t speaking about a particular subject doesn’t mean they aren’t being political. Emotions, mood, culture – these are all inherently political they just aren’t perceived as such because they’re framed and expressed through an aesthetic that represents a point of view that is considered normal to its audience. You are always taking a stance and I don’t mean “silence is a position” I mean, the perpetuation of a particular aesthetic and culture is in and of itself, political.

I’m not saying celebrities should necessarily feel compelled to weigh in and for the most part I lean closer to the side that doesn’t really care what they say. I just can’t wrap my head around the distinction between individual expression and politics. You seem to be very specifically defining what “political” means according to a set of subjects that shouldn’t be brought up based on what you don’t want to hear people sing about. What about class strife? Being poor? Being a wage worker or a laborer? What about performing certain kinds of work and making a living off of it? These aren’t political? It’s likely the only reason one would say they don’t want their music political is because when what they listen to and don’t question it’s because they already agree with the politics of what is being said and don’t think about is as political.

If you look at when most Confederate statues went up there were spikes during times of civil rights turmoil to reinforce racist values and many of them reside in states that didn’t even exist during the confederacy.

Which political quotient helped lead to Charlottesville? You think neo-Nazi, white supremacist mentality is engendered by partisan politics?

“not help spread it because celebrities are guilted into addressing it in inappropriate forums.” Sorry, that ain’t how racism spreads.

“putting these artist’s statements in the precarious and unfortunate scenario of becoming forums and bullhorns for the racists and Nazis to spread their message.” White supremacists in this country now have an overt endorsement from the executive branch. Country artists speaking against racism doesn’t
provide any kind of bullhorn. I think your first hypothesis is far more likely: artists are dependent upon consumers and corporate entities that are deeply invested in white supremacy (here I don’t mean hate groups but the elaborate system of psychological and institutional racism and white privilege).

“break down barriers in perspective that racism and radical thought hides behind.” You think country music, as such, functions to combat racism? Maaaaan you are really trying hard. This passage actually sounds like some kumbaya liberalism here.

That this article is the one you chose to publish after recent events is unfortunate, but predictable.

Trigger thank you for an honest, level headed approach to this issue. It’s sad that such common sense isn’t more prevalent in journalism and the media. I firmly believe that these artist’s so called “complacency” is seen by them as being redundant. It’s pretty obvious that any normal person would be against racism and Nazism, so what is the point in making a stand about it. It’s like making a stand saying “Mondays suck.” Making a stand that the majority of folks agree with or at least are attentive to is not a stand at all.

Where was Rolling Stone back in the early 1970’s when Gramm Parsons used a confederate flag for a backdrop to his stages?

Perhaps it criticized him at that time.

Or it was silent.

It would be interesting to see what it thought about Gramm’s stage backdrop.

Rolling Stone, particularly at this nadir of influence, has become a joke.

It’s certainly not a beacon of morality, nor does it possess the gravitas to opine about much of anything which doesn’t involve picking strings on a guitar (or other stringed instrument), playing keyboards or playing percussion.

being a country music fan would be a lot easier for me personally if all country artists and fans would stfu about their political and religious opinions. I know better than to read comments to an article like this but I did and now my entire day is going to be complete shit.

Just as another example of this calling out artists bull, I read an article on why we shouldn’t listen to Southern Rock any more. I was like, fuck you, I’m going to listen to MORE Southern Rock now. And I listen to a lot. Don’t tell me what to listen to, sister.

Southern rock is basically the opposite of racism lol… I just like cruising on my motorcycle playing Skynyrd, don’t want no problems with any other races… I don’t like people in general very much. You do your thing, I’ll do mine. That’s southern rock in a nutshell for me.

While it may not overtly be complicity with the hate and racism, not peaking out certainly shows cowardice and cynical cash grabbing as the artist who choose not to peak out are too afraid of losing sales to the white supremacists and racists.

It speaks to the avarice of the silent artists who remain silent for fear of *gasp* losing a few sales to people who prefer to fly nazi or confederate flags.

What worries me is that people are focusing on the Nazi flag and ignoring the Communist flag because Communism is hip in a lot of college and left wing circles. And that is terrifying. Both institutions are responsible for the deaths of millions upon millions. The Soviet Union wasn’t a good guy because they fought Nazi Germany and neither is Antifa. Both are monsters.

Its easy to focus on the neo nazis because they cast a large net. Antifa is antifa but the neo nazis are racists, anti semites, misogynists, young white males who populate websites like 4chan. Not many people in the US suffer from communists opression but many do from racism and anti semitism on a daily basis. Their online presence is huge. Read up a bit about KeKistan, gamergate…

If we are to measure an ideology’s “evilness” then looking at the amount of deaths as a result of the ideology might be a form of measurement. Communism by far takes the lead. National Socialism and Communism are both authoritarian governments that we should repel. However, since history is written by the victor and the communist came out of WW2 as the winners they probably didn’t get the same level of demonization as the National Socialist received. It’s strange because so many more people have suffered from communist oppression and yet no one speaks up of the cancer that’s plaguing today’s universities and colleges.

Quite honestly, I’m not really sure if the pro-confederate statue crowd that day really embraced National Socialism. I got this feeling they did Nazi salutes and other stuff for the shock and awe factor. Hard to know really without interviewing each participating individual.

This all seems like the result of European/Caucasian disparaging that has been very popular lately. The safe spaces, Black Lives Matter, Columbus Day denouncement, cultural appropriation, race segregated college apartments (ironic), microaggressions, and many other subjects that I can’t think of at the moment that are all aim to vilify people with fair skin. Oh, now people who sing country music are somehow responsible for racism! The tactics that these far left lunatics are using is going to blow back in their face. “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

If I may, this nonsense has reached to beyond the grave, in that the family of Johnny Cash has had to make a statement denouncing the whole Charlottesville debacle because a neo-Nutzi was photographed wearing a shirt bearing JC’s image~

Full scoop, including full text of Roseann Cash’s statement can be found at

Sad state of affairs. An entire generation of people being brainwashed by media controlled by the Deep State, to advance their globalization agenda. No independent research, just mob rules and believing whatever you’re told to believe. No logic, facts, critical reasoning, personal responsibility. Just whatever feels good with no concern for long-term consequences. Trump has a Herculean set of nearly impossible tasks to overcome all this damage and corruption.

It’s all politics — even when I look for local musicians to help with making music great again they say: “hey, people come to bars to forget about their problems and just enjoy the music not get in with your political drivel”

And I just leave them to their curse of bemusement and cancer.

It’s all political: when the question is of “is there coffee in the cubbard or not” by Abigale Adams, or your way of life from McMurtry’s rancher to a modern cowpunk drug dealer — that’s politics; don’t tell me to be just another wash-up with one too many self delusions of juke joints and a pot belly and tits to show for it from escaping reality acting like all of these swine in a land sold out by female real-estate agents all under the command of some queen bee in the east.

I just want to Make Country Music Great Again — and that’s what I think any real country artist should be for if they’re not impostors under the flesh like in the movie They Live.

BTW I’m first generation American from BINARY parents that legally and lawfully immigrated here and I’m from a people that have fought actual Maoist communism so it’s in my genes to know and recognize the spirt of dehumanization that most in America still are not inoculated against or immune to — they just have this blazing dream of a new dawn coming — glazed over eyes and all.

I don’t think that those who don’t speak out against what happened in Charlottesville are racists themselves, or even minimally supportive of the White Nationalists. However, by not speaking out and sitting on the sidelines because it may not be good for their bottom line, they might be considered guilty of a complicity of silence. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” And racism is an issue that still matters in our nation, especially when it comes to statues of Confederate military figures who committed treason by taking up arms AGAINST the United States over the immoral act of enslavement.

We all need to cool the heat down before any more deadly confrontations occur, and deal with the issue of racism like rational people. But make no mistake, we need to deal with it. Case closed.

Why do I care what an artist thinks? I’m paying money for music, not an ‘anti-racism’ seminar. I’m pretty libertarian, and I don’t really want to hear any politics at a show, either left wing or right wing, unless that is a central theme of the band.

I can make up my own mind that Nazis are bad lol… I don’t need the great philosopher Luke Bryan to tell me that. Don’t preach to me, you do your thing and I’ll do mine.